


Cut Down the Angle

by thistidalwave



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Always a Different Sex, Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-30
Updated: 2012-11-30
Packaged: 2017-11-19 21:44:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/577974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thistidalwave/pseuds/thistidalwave
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Boarding school AU. Louis and Niall smile at each other frequently while being really stupid. Meanwhile, Liam and Zayn are sickeningly adorable, and Harry rolls her eyes and texts someone a lot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cut Down the Angle

**Author's Note:**

> i have no idea why i wrote this other than it had something to do with [this post](http://incandescentwings.tumblr.com/post/34197205147) and perhaps [this picture](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mcbhxkBYm71qkhi6to1_500.png). it was meant to be short and possibly angsty and then i don’t know what happened.
> 
> my beta emily is my hero. nothing wrong with this fic is her fault, and without her it would be a lot less awesome. also thanks to shai and calley for being a+ cheerleaders. 
> 
> the title is a goaltending tactic which in turn is a metaphor, because i am clever or something.
> 
> charterhouse is a real boarding school in surrey, but i’ve never been there and i mostly just took ~all the liberties~ so it might be best to just consider it a fictional place, because it basically is. perhaps it’s not even in britain, but rather a mystical place that rather looks like britain but hasn’t been looked over by anyone british and could therefore be a bit inaccurate. 
> 
> this is set in the spring of a nondescript year, so pretend that’s when new FIFA games come out just like you’re going to pretend that liam, zayn, and harry are all girls and that louis and niall are in love.

There comes a point in every young man’s life where he has to just give up on everything, even if only for a moment, Louis thinks to himself as he trips over a tree root and lands hard on his knees, swearing loudly. Louis, now covered in dirt and sitting on the ground at the outskirts of the fancy boarding school he goes to, figures he’s reached that point. 

“Is someone there?” he hears from somewhere just through the trees ahead. He pulls himself to his feet and wanders toward where the voice came from until he’s face to face with a girl sitting with her legs outstretched and crossed in front of her, back leaning against a tree. She’s wearing a Charterhouse uniform, holding a cigarette between her fingers, and looking really unimpressed. 

“Hi, sorry,” Louis says, and flops down in the grass in front of her, propping himself up on his elbows. “Smoking’s not allowed,” he comments.

The girl blows smoke at him. “Do I look like I care?”

Louis shrugs. “Nah. I’m Louis Tomlinson, by the way. S’nice to meet you.”

She raises an eyebrow at him. “I’m Zayn,” she offers after a moment. “Malik. It’s not that nice to meet you.”

Louis laughs. “Honest. I like that. What’re you doing out here on a nice Sunday night like this one?”

“Should think it’s obvious,” Zayn says. “Better question is, what are _you_ doing?”

Louis picks at the grass, ripping up pieces and flicking them at Zayn, who doesn’t seem interested in brushing them off when they land on her. “Do you think there comes a point in everyone’s life where they have to just give up?” Louis asks.

Zayn is silent for a long time, sucking on her cigarette and looking contemplative. Her hair is perfectly styled, Louis notes in the silence, fluffed up into a quiff in the front and then hanging down straight to her shoulders. She’s talented with makeup, too, clearly knowing the exact right amount to wear and look good as if she’s not trying, even if she’s maybe a little inclined to go eyeliner heavy. She’s well put together, Louis thinks. 

Zayn stubs her cigarette out on the tree and drops the butt on the ground, running her fingers through the dirt and covering it over before looking up at Louis. “What’s got you in a tiff, then?” she asks.

Louis sighs. “Kissed my best friend,” he says, picking at the grass again. “Didn’t go so well.”

“Harry?” Zayn asks.

Louis’ head snaps up to look at Zayn. “You know Harry?” 

Zayn shrugs. “Yeah, we’ve talked a couple times. You’re both pretty popular for being all athletic, y’know. So she doesn’t want to be kissing you?”

“More like neither of us want to be kissing each other, honestly,” Louis says.

“So... why were you kissing at all?” Zayn asks, looking mystified. 

“Seemed like a good idea at the time,” Louis says. “Like, we _should_ want to be kissing. She’s fit. I’m fit. We like each other--why not? It should be that easy.”

Zayn laughs. “Nothing’s ever that easy.”

“Thanks, love, I noticed,” Louis says, lying back on the ground and flinging an arm across his face dramatically. He suddenly feels very awkward about sharing his life story with this girl he’s just met. “What about you? Since I’m telling you all my woes, it’s only fair you share yours.”

“Well, I actually do want to be kissing my best friend,” Zayn says. “But I’m pretty sure she doesn’t want to be kissing me back.”

Louis moves his arm so he can squint at Zayn. “Why wouldn’t she? You’re good looking.”

“She’s straight,” Zayn says. 

“Ah. That would do it.” Louis sighs. “We’re quite the pair, aren’t we.”

“Yeah,” Zayn says, getting to her feet and brushing off her skirt. “I figure it’s time to head back to my room, though. See you around?” She’s smirking at him, and Louis finds himself grinning back at her.

“Sure, yeah. Around.”

-

“I hope you realise that the fact that we snogged for three seconds doesn’t change a thing about our friendship,” Harry announces, sitting down across from Louis at lunch the next day. “Even if you were horrendously awkward about it and went running off after I very nicely pushed you away.”

Louis smiles down at his plate. This is why he loves Harry, honestly. “I realise, don’t worry,” he tells her.

“Good. Now, first order of business--we need to find you a girlfriend, as you’ve clearly gone mad,” Harry informs him. 

“I--what!” Louis splutters. “I don’t--”

“Shut up,” Harry says mildly, picking up half her sandwich. “Sane people don’t randomly snog their best friends. I’ve been thinking about it and I’m sure it won’t be hard to find someone. There are plenty of--”

“Oh, God, no,” Louis interrupts. “Please don’t go all _Cinderella Story_ on me.”

“Cinderella what now?” Harry asks, raising an eyebrow. 

“Er--nothing. I don’t need you to find me a girlfriend, Harry. I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not.” Harry takes a bite of her sandwich and stares at Louis as she chews, eyes wide underneath the flop of her fringe. It’s unnerving as hell, and Louis can feel his resolve cracking with every passing second. 

“Oh, fuck. I’m not fine, just stop doing that,” Louis says. 

Harry swallows her food and cheers, fist pumping. A couple other students in the dining hall look over at them, but the whole school is pretty much used to Harry and Louis being loud and obnoxious all the time, so they lose interest quickly.

“Okay, so I’ve made a list of girls that seem to be likely candidates,” Harry starts, pulling a notebook out of her bag, and Louis wishes he could melt into the floor. 

-

Louis sometimes thinks that football is one of the only things that really makes sense to him--the strategy is always the same, there’s always a tried and true way to get better at it, and the rules never change. It’s logical, and he likes that. There’s nothing more comforting to him than being on the field kicking the ball around, which is why it’s always the first place he goes when he’s feeling stressed, and also the first place Harry looks for him on Thursday night when he doesn’t wander into her room some time after dinner like normal.

“Thought I’d find you here,” she calls out, and Louis looks up from where he’s dribbling the ball back and forth between the goalposts. 

“Hey,” he says, raising one hand in a wave. “Kind of want to be left alone, really.”

“‘Course you do,” Harry says. “Doesn’t mean I’m going to go away. Want me to run drills with you?”

“I guess,” Louis agrees, kicking the ball to her. She stops it on the side of her foot and smiles at him. 

“Or we could scrimmage,” she suggests.

“No way,” Louis says. “You suck.”

Harry laughs, because it’s true. She might be all right at playing lacrosse, but she’s horrible at football.

They run drills in relative silence for fifteen minutes before Harry takes it upon herself to say, “I can lay off the girlfriend thing if you’d really like me to. I just think it’d be good for you is all.”

“I know,” Louis says, kicking the ball up so he can catch it. “It’s nice, Harry, thank you.”

“Is that not all the problem?”

Louis shrugs. “Had some stressful classes this week, I guess, and then there’s a game tomorrow. I’ll be fine.”

“You’re sure? And there’s nothing else you want to tell me?” Louis immediately fidgets, shifting his weight from one foot to the other and looking down. Harry narrows her eyes. “There _is_ something.”

“It’s just--um. I think I have a crush on someone already? And they weren’t on your list.”

“Really? Who? Tell me now, Louis,” she demands.

“It’s, um--you know that cute blonde that’s always at matches? And the parties afterward?”

Harry rolls her eyes. “You’re going to have to be more specific.”

Louis sighs. “His name’s Niall, I think.”

“Oh. Oh my God,” Harry says. Louis bites at his lip. “Oh, Louis. Why didn’t you tell me this sooner?”

Louis shrugs and avoids eye contact. “Dunno.”

“You know it’s totally okay,” Harry says very seriously, and when Louis glances up at her, she grins at him and pulls him into a hug. 

“Thanks, Haz,” he says into her shoulder, hugging back.

“Okay,” Harry says, pulling back from the hug and patting Louis reassuringly on the shoulder. “I’m going to talk to Niall. Let me handle this.”

“Wait, what?”

-

It’s entirely by coincidence that Louis finds Zayn in the art studio after classes are over on Friday afternoon and not because he sweet talked a secretary into looking her up and telling him her schedule. 

“Hey,” he says from behind her, and she nearly spills paint all over her shirt. Louis winces.

“What are you doing here?” she asks, and Louis shrugs. 

“Fancied a chat, love.” He pulls a stool over from the neighbouring station and sits down. “Feel free to keep working,” he says, gesturing to her easel. Zayn looks dubious, but she does go back to her painting. 

“Is your friend in the art program, too?” Louis asks after a moment. 

Zayn shakes her head. “No, she takes music, actually. And her name’s Liam.”

“Liam Payne?” Louis asks, surprised.

Zayn pauses in the middle of dabbing green leaves onto a tree. “Yeah, you know her?”

“She’s friends with Niall Horan? Sometimes they come to matches together.”

“Yeah. They’ve been friends for years.”

“Huh,” Louis says, “that’s cool.” 

They sit in silence for awhile while Louis tries to think of a way to casually bring up how much he’s freaking out about Harry ‘handling’ his crush on Niall and Zayn works on her painting. Louis is watching her carefully fill in sky with blue watercolour when she says idly, “This painting is about you.”

Louis immediately frowns. “It’s what?” 

“About you,” Zayn repeats.

“It’s a tree,” Louis says. 

Zayn shrugs. “We met under a tree. And then there’s a bunch of obscure symbolism in the colours and the lines but I don’t really know how to put that into words just yet.”

“That’s cool. Thanks, I think.”

“It’s about you, not for you, hotshot,” Zayn says. “Is there something you’re feeling the need to get off your chest?”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Louis says. “I told Harry that I fancy Niall and she’s told me to let her ‘handle it’. I’m a bit worried.”

Zayn pauses, then looks over at Louis. “You fancy Niall?”

Louis flushes. “Yeah, um. I don’t... is that--”

“It’s okay, dude,” Zayn interrupts with a wry smile. “Obviously.” She busies herself washing off her brush in a cup of water. “What does Harry plan on doing about it?”

“Haven’t a clue, that’s the problem,” Louis says. “Also, I was wondering if you were coming to the match tonight?”

“The football match?” 

“Yeah.”

“Do you want me to?”

“Yeah, please.”

“Do you also want me to talk to Harry and find out what she’s going to do?”

Louis blinks. “I hadn’t even thought of that.”

Zayn laughs. “All right, I’ll be there.”

“Thanks, Zayn.” Louis looks up at the clock on the wall and sighs. “I’d better go, really, gotta do pre-game stuff. See you later?”

“Yeah, see you.”

Louis flips Zayn’s ponytail as he walks past to get to the door. He just catches her flipping him off out of the corner of his eye and keeps laughing to himself about it almost all the way back to his room.

-

Niall accidentally kicks the seat in front of him when he cheers for Louis Tomlinson executing a truly fantastic tackle to get the ball away from the opposition and gets glared at by a skinny boy with ginger hair who doesn’t seem appeased by Niall’s hasty, “Sorry, mate, sorry.” Niall’s a bit afraid for his life, honestly.

“I’m a bit afraid for my life,” he whispers to Liam. 

“Hm?” she asks, turning to look at him. “Sorry, I wasn’t listening.”

Niall sighs. “Are you staring at Zayn again? Because I know you’re not watching the match.”

Liam’s cheeks flush pink. “I _am so_ watching the match.”

“You’re not,” Niall says. “Who last scored?”

The stands suddenly erupt in a loud cheer around them, and Liam turns to look at the field. “Looks like number seventeen just did,” she says. “Louis, right? The one you’ve got a crush on.”

“I don’t have a crush!” Niall splutters in protest even as he cranes his neck to see onto the field, where Louis’ teammates are jumping around and piling onto Louis.

Liam reaches out to rub his shoulder sympathetically. “Sure you don’t,” she says. “Sorry I made you miss his goal.”

“Whatever,” Niall says. He’s absolutely not pouting about it at all. “If you’re going to ignore me in favour of making eyes at Zayn you may as well go sit with her.”

Liam looks like she’s going to protest, and sure enough, “But she’s sitting with Harry Styles.”

“So? You’re Zayn’s best friend, it’s not like she’s replaced you with Harry overnight,” Niall says, then frowns at the look on Liam’s face. “You think she has, don’t you.”

“Well, if she wants to hang out with other people--”

“Fuckin’ absurd,” Niall interrupts, shoving at Liam’s shoulder. “Go see how wrong you are.”

“You’re sure you’ll be okay sitting by yourself?”

Niall rolls his eyes and leans over to kiss Liam on the cheek. “So thoughtful, but yeah, I’m fine. You going to the party after?”

Liam shakes her head. “No, I don’t think so.”

“Okay. I’ll text you, we’ll hang out tomorrow.”

“‘Kay,” Liam agrees before finally getting up and making her way across the stands toward where Zayn and Harry are sitting. Niall watches for a moment before turning back to the field, immediately searching out and finding Louis hovering near the center line, yelling something Niall can’t quite hear at someone on his team.

So maybe Niall has a bit of a crush on Louis--but who doesn’t? He’s captain of the footie team and he’s good. Niall is allowed to fancy his athletic skills. And the way his arse looks in his shorts.

He tries not to sigh audibly. It’s possible that he has a bit of a problem.

-

“You,” Harry says, sitting down next to Louis on the sofa in the common area of his hall, Zayn following close behind, “are going to go over there and talk to Niall.”

“Is that the amazing plan you and Zayn have been giggling about all night?” Louis says, swishing his punch around in his cup. In retrospect, he really should have expected that Harry and Zayn would start whispering to each other and not telling him anything about anything. 

“No, that plan is much more complex. But it’s also plan B. This is plan A,” Zayn informs him from his other side.

“Just talking to him?” Louis asks. “What am I supposed to say?”

“Don’t know, really,” Harry says.

“Invite him to go somewhere with you,” Zayn suggests. 

“Or just have a bit of a chat,” Harry amends. “Introduce yourself even though he already knows who you are, ask him how it’s going, how he liked the match... make it up, Louis, you can do it.”

“No, I can’t,” Louis says. 

Harry rolls her eyes. “If you don’t, I will tell the world about that time with the carrots and--”

“Fine!” Louis interrupts loudly. It’s slightly worrying that he can think of at least six horrible and embarrassing things Harry could tell the world about him that involve carrots. “I’m going!”

He is not going, but he figures if he just sort of drifts over to the kitchen area where Niall is sitting on a countertop talking to people he can tell Harry and Zayn he tried and they won’t yell at him too much. He pulls his mobile out of his pocket and tries to look like he’s busy--which isn’t actually hard, because Stan has texted him. 

Stan Lucas 19:12 | _Hey! How did the match go? Harry still driving you crazy? x_

Louis Tomlinson 20:01 | _We won 3 - 1. :) She’s decided to threaten me with telling horrible stories if I don’t talk to Niall. I hate her._

Stan Lucas 20:04 | _HAHAHAHA you don’t though. She’s right, I’m sick of you calling me and crying about your pathetic life._

Louis Tomlinson 20:05 | _I hate you too._

Stan Lucas 20:07 | _You don’t! go ask niall if he likes carrots. ;)_

Louis Tomlinson 20:07 | _Fuck you. x_

“Hey, Louis, could you--”

Louis looks up from his phone to see Niall standing in front of him, awkwardly gesturing at him. Louis nearly trips over in his haste to get out of the way--he’d been standing in front of the fridge, which was a horrible choice that he clearly hadn’t properly thought through.

“Sorry, sorry.”

“S’no problem,” Niall says, pulling open the fridge and rummaging through it. He grabs a can of Pepsi and lets the door fall shut, leaning against it and cracking open the can. “How’re you doing?” he asks Louis before taking a drink.

“Me? Um, I’m good. What about you?”

“Good, mate, thanks.”

Louis fidgets with the sleeve of his jumper and tries desperately to think of something to say that won’t freak Niall out. His first thought, of course, is carrots, but he can think straight enough not to say that. But not, apparently, enough to not go with his second thought, which is something that’s been nagging in the back of his mind for awhile. “Hey, are you dating Liam?”

Niall blinks at him, quirking an eyebrow. “Uh, no, that would be weird. She’s been my best friend since we were little. Why do you ask?”

Louis panics. “Uh, I was talking to Zayn and she said she’s interested. Not in you, in Liam. Not that you’re not interesting. Or attractive. Er, not that I’ve noticed anything like that. Um.” Louis tugs the cuff of his jumper over his hand and takes a breath. “A bunch of us are going into town tomorrow, if you wanted to tag along?”

Niall is silent for a long moment while he takes what Louis is sure is the longest sip of his drink known to man. Louis tracks the way his lips purse together and his throat moves when he swallows so carefully that he almost misses it when Niall says, “Okay.”

“Sorry, what?” 

“Okay,” Niall repeats. “Sounds fun.”

“Oh,” Louis says. “Well, um. Meet you in the car park at, like, three?”

“Sure,” Niall agrees. “See you.”

Louis backs away awkwardly, then turns and tries not to look like he’s running back to where Harry and Zayn are still sat on the sofa, flinging himself dramatically onto the open space next to Zayn and draping himself across their laps. “We’re going into town tomorrow,” he tells them.

Harry and Zayn look down at him with near identical bemused faces. “You and Niall are?” Harry asks.

“No!” Louis protests. “No, no, no, I said ‘a bunch of us’, so you’ve both got to come, too, and Zayn can invite Liam, yeah? Niall will like that, they’re friends, it’ll make it less awkward.”

“Would you look at that,” Zayn says. “Louis’s actually gone and made plan A work.”

“Now we won’t be able to use plan B,” Harry says wistfully. “It was so good, too.” She digs her fingers into Louis’ rib cage, tickling him, and he bats uselessly at her hands.

“Such a shame,” Zayn says, deadpan, and she and Harry burst into laughter. Louis rolls his eyes.

-

Louis wakes up around half ten on Saturday morning and immediately rolls over and attempts to go back to sleep. He drifts in and out of consciousness for a bit, has a remarkably lucid dream about going to a carnival and riding a Ferris wheel with Niall, and then abruptly remembers that he has _plans_ for today, and holy shit, is that really happening?

By the time he remembers and stumbles out of bed to grab his phone from his desk so he can check the time, it’s nearly half eleven. He rubs sleep out of his eyes and texts Harry.

Louis Tomlinson 11:28 | _Do I really have plans with Niall today ?_

Harry Styles 11:30 | _Yes! Louis, what are you going to wear?!?!?! ;)_

Louis rolls his eyes. He has tons of clothes, he can just throw on something. 

Then he makes the mistake of trying to think of what to wear and promptly freaks out, because has Niall ever seen him out of some form of school uniform? What if he thinks Louis looks stupid and is ridiculous and never talks to him again?

Louis Tomlinson 11:32 | _… Harry help._

Harry Styles 11:33 | _Already on my way, sweetcheeks. Shall I bring breakfast? .xx_

Louis loves Harry a lot and texts her back saying as much before turning to stare into his closet, which is where Harry finds him when she barges into the room fifteen minutes later without even the pretense of a knock. 

“I come bearing donuts,” Harry declares, dropping a plate from the cafeteria on Louis’ desk before adding, “and tea,” handing over a styrofoam cup. “Have you had a mental breakdown yet?”

“Twice over,” Louis groans, leaning against the wall and knocking back half the lukewarm tea in one go. He blinks at Harry. “You look good,” he says, because she really is rocking the skinny jeans with a loose t-shirt and copious accessories look. Her hair is even the perfect amount of windswept. It looks like it was all effortless, too, and Louis hates her a little.

“Thanks, babe,” Harry says. “I dress to impress. And I put a lot of time into this hair.”

“What am I going to do about my hair, Harry?” Louis whines. 

Harry rolls her eyes. “Not much different than your usual mop falling all in your face, I’d expect. I keep telling you to get it cut, but you never listen to me. Now, show me the terrible outfits you’ve been considering this whole time and I’ll tell you you’re stupid and to just pick one because you’re actually not bad at dressing yourself.”

“What would I do without you?” Louis asks, turning to pull various shirts off their hangers and throw them at Harry. 

Harry catches the first one and grins. “You would die,” she says matter of factly, and Louis can’t find it in himself to disagree. 

-

Ten to three o’clock finds Louis sitting on the bonnet of Harry’s car, fiddling with the ends of his fringe where it’s flopping out from under his beanie and brushing down his white trousers nervously.

“Are you sure purple was a good idea?” he asks Harry in reference to his shirt for approximately the billionth time. 

“Shut up, Louis,” Harry says, not looking up from where she’s tapping out something on her phone.

“Who are you texting?” Louis asks. 

“No one,” Harry says, shoving her phone into her back pocket. “Oh, look, here comes Zayn.”

Louis turns to see that Zayn is indeed walking across the car park and he waves at her. She waves back and flips something in her other hand--a lighter, Louis notices when she gets closer and before she tucks it into the pocket of her black jeans. 

“Hey,” Zayn says. “Liam texted me, said she and Niall would be here in like two minutes.”

“Awesome,” Louis says, attempting to ignore the way his throat has suddenly gone dry. He’s going to be hanging out with _Niall._ He’s still not entirely sure he isn’t just having a very realistic dream. 

Harry pinches the inside of his elbow. “Ow! What was that for?” Louis yelps, holding his arm to himself defensively.

“You looked like you thought you might be dreaming again,” Harry says, shrugging. 

Zayn giggles, then abruptly goes sombre. “There they are,” she says, waving in the opposite direction from where she’d come. “She looks so good,” she mutters under her breath. 

Liam is waving enthusiastically back at Zayn, dressed simply in jeans and a long sleeved black shirt, her hair tied up in a ponytail, and Louis would agree with Zayn, except how he’s distracted by Niall lagging a couple steps behind her, hands shoved into the pockets of rather too large trousers and a blue cardigan clinging to the muscles in his arms. Louis watches as he lifts his snapback up and ruffles his hair before putting it back on backward and forgets how to breathe for a second. 

“Hi, I’m Liam!” Liam says suddenly from in front of Louis, and Louis blinks. 

“Oh, I know. I mean, hi, I’m Louis,” Louis stammers, hopping down off Harry’s car to shake her proffered hand, feeling extremely awkward. 

“Heya there, mate,” Niall says, reaching to slap Louis on the arm in greeting. “Hi, girls. Harry, right?”

“That’s me,” Harry agrees. “If we’re all present and accounted for shall we hop into the car?”

“Shotgun,” Louis calls quickly.

The drive into town from the school starts off quiet and awkward, with Liam trying to make small chat that no one is particularly interested in, and then Niall starts poking at Liam’s side and Zayn joins in on her other side and it turns into Liam screeching and trying to get them to stop tickling her while Harry almost cries from laughing at Liam’s horrified face, and Louis has to grab the steering wheel so that they don’t drive off the bloody road while Harry composes herself. 

From there the awkward tension is broken and they’re all laughing when they enter the diner Harry and Louis have been frequenting almost every weekend since they became friends. They order a pizza to share and Louis orders chips and finds himself throwing them at Niall’s face from across the table. Niall picks them up and throws them back, and Harry kicks Louis in the shin under the table. “What are you doing?” she hisses into Louis’ ear.

“I think they call it pigtail pulling,” Louis whispers back. “It’s a well known mating ritual. And he’s doing it back, this is a positive sign, right?”

“You’re insane,” Harry tells him. Louis shrugs and throws another chip at Niall. 

“What’s the story over there?” Liam asks curiously. 

“Yeah, what are you whispering about?” Zayn adds. 

Louis opens his mouth to crack a joke, but Harry beats him to it. “I’m just telling Louis how I’m going to pop over to the secondhand bookshop across the way. Anyone want to come with me?”

Zayn perks up. “Sure, I will,” she says, standing to follow Harry toward the door. Louis wonders why Harry is going over to the bookshop when he’s pretty sure she’s never set foot in there before.

Louis can see Liam fidgeting under the table and nudges her leg with his own. “You should go, too, if you want.”

Liam looks over at Niall. “Is that cool?”

Niall grins around a mouthful of pizza, then swallows to say, “Yeah, Li, get outta here.”

Louis abruptly realises that this means he’ll be alone with Niall and wants to grab Liam and make her stay, but she’s already hopped out of her seat and hurried to catch up to Harry and Zayn. 

“So...” Louis starts to say, and then thinks better of it and shoves a bunch of chips in his mouth instead.

“How long have you and Zayn been friends?” Niall asks, and Louis nearly chokes in his haste to swallow his food so he can answer. He really needs to start thinking harder about his choices. 

“Only since like last Sunday,” Louis says after what seems like an eternity. “Why do you ask?”

“Hmm,” Niall says, reaching for his drink and looking thoughtful. “I was thinking about what you said, that Zayn is interested in Liam, and I can tell Liam fancies Zayn, too, so I think we should do something about it.”

Louis snorts, because apparently his life is full of matchmakers, but he leans forward in interest anyway. He’s always a fan of plotting things. “What do you have in mind?”

“Nefarious plots,” Niall says, grinning slyly, and then laughs at himself. “Really, though, I was thinking setting them up on secret dates, making sure they realise they’re totally head over heels for each other, you know. The usual.”

Louis beams. Secret dates implies that there will need to be planning, and the more time Louis has to spend with Niall, the better to convince him that he needs to get married to and adopt children with Louis. Or to scare him off forever. Either way.

By the time Liam and Zayn come traipsing back into the diner, Liam tugging at Zayn’s leather jacket and making her laugh for some reason, Louis and Niall have decided that their first plan of attack involves a nice romantic bike ride next weekend (Louis’ idea, inspired by sappy romantic comedies), which Louis and Niall will pretend is a group outing but that the bike rental place accidentally misbooked and only had two bikes (Niall’s idea, which Louis is very impressed with and would have liked to give Niall a kiss for coming up with), so therefore Liam and Zayn will clearly have to go on their own and fall in love. Louis is pretty proud of it. 

“Hey,” Louis says in greeting to Liam and Zayn. “Where’s Harry?”

“She was looking for a specific book,” Liam says, “so she told us to go on while she kept looking.”

“She hung back to flirt with the guy who works there more, basically,” Zayn adds, smirking.

“That, too,” Liam agrees. “Zayn wants to go to the vintage shop down the street.”

Zayn nods. “So if you boys are done here...”

“Sure!” Niall says, hopping to his feet. “Louis?”

“No, I’ll stay here by myself and sadly eat cold chips, thank you,” Louis deadpans, then rolls his eyes and stands up as well. Niall giggles at him, and Louis is pretty sure his heart doubles in size at the sound.

Louis trails behind them a little as they make their way down the street and he is absolutely not admiring the profile of Niall’s face when he laughs at something Zayn said when his mobile vibrates in his pocket. 

Stan Lucas 16:48 | _How’s the date going mate? x_

Louis Tomlinson 16:49 | _It’s not a date, I told you. It’s good though :) x_

“You coming, Louis?” Zayn calls. Louis looks up from his phone to see her standing at the entrance to a building, holding the door open and gesturing for him to hurry up--which he does, feinting at sticking his hand in her quiff as he walks by. She ducks out of the way and punches him in the arm.

Stan Lucas 16:51 | _Have you snogged him yet?_

Louis Tomlinson 16:53 | _Not a date._

Louis Tomlinson 16:54 | _Also fuck off he’s coming over to talk to me x_

“Who are you texting?” Niall asks, strolling idly up to Louis, twirling a pink lollipop that Louis assumes he’s just bought from the shop between his fingers.

“Uh, Stan,” Louis says, and then quickly adds, “He’s my best mate from back in Doncaster.”

“Mmmm,” Niall hums around the lolly and then pops it out of his mouth to add, “cool.” Louis tries really hard not to think about Niall’s lips too hard, and he’s definitely imagining the way Niall smirks before sticking the lolly back in his mouth. 

Louis may have been staring at Niall for a good minute when his phone vibrates again just as there’s a quiet crash from somewhere in the shop and the distinct sound of Liam’s voice saying “Shit!”

“What was _that_?” Niall asks. Louis shrugs, and they make a silent mutual decision to head toward the noise. They turn the corner at the end of an aisle full of assorted pieces of jewellery to see Liam and Zayn staring down at an overturned box, various things that Louis guesses are meant to be necklaces and bracelets strewn across the floor. Liam looks up when she hears them approach.

“I didn’t mean to, I just accidentally bumped it and it fell everywhere,” Liam says helplessly, gesturing at the mess.

Niall is already crouching down and Louis immediately drops to his knees with him. “It’s okay, Liam, most of this stuff is probably just fine,” Louis says, picking up a handful and dropping it back in the box.

“It’s okay,” Zayn echoes, nudging Liam’s arm with her elbow. 

They clean it up in no time with their four sets of hands all working on it, and Louis is right that most of it is okay, but of course Liam is the one to pick up the one broken thing--a watch that probably wasn’t even supposed to be in the box, cracked right across the face of it. 

“Oh _no_ ,” Liam says, looking perilously close to tears. “It was so pretty, too.”

Zayn leans over and takes the watch from her. “S’all right,” she says. “I’ll buy it. I need a watch, anyway.”

Louis is very proud of himself for not immediately pointing out that no one needs a watch in this day and age of mobile phones.

“It’s broken, though,” Liam protests. 

“I can get it fixed,” Zayn says. 

Niall shoves his elbow into Louis’ ribs, and when Louis looks over at him, raises his eyebrows. He leans closer to Louis, close enough that Louis can smell the sugary sweetness of his candy when he pulls it out of his mouth to whisper, “They’re adorable.”

Louis looks back to where Liam is smiling gratefully at Zayn, Zayn smiling softly back, and has to agree. His mobile vibrates insistently twice in a row and he abruptly remembers that it had vibrated before, too.

Stan Lucas 16:57 | _Get some. x_

Harry Styles 17:09 | _Where’d you guys get to?_

Harry Styles 17:09 | _Vintage shop?_

“Harry’s looking for us,” Louis reports. 

“I just remembered there’s something I’ve gotta do,” Niall says. “Catch you all in a few minutes, yeah?” He backs his way down the aisle, shooting Louis a wink he just barely catches before turning to nearly jog out of the shop.

“Where’s he going?” Zayn asks, perplexed, as she puts the box carefully back onto the shelf.

Louis shrugs. “Not a clue.”

Zayn doesn’t look like she believes him, but thankfully at that moment Harry comes bounding into the shop and throws herself onto Louis’ back. He staggers a bit under the sudden weight, but adjusts easily--years of practice have served him well--and tucks his hands under her thighs to hold her up. “Jesus, Haz, we already had one accident in here. Don’t make _me_ break something, too.”

“Who broke something?” Harry asks. 

“Me,” Liam says. “It was an accident.”

Harry laughs. “No, I’m sure you did it intentionally, Liam. You seem that kind of girl.”

Liam stares at Harry blankly. Zayn clears her throat. “Harry’s joking, Li.”

“Oh,” Liam says, her cheeks turning light pink. “I knew that.”

“Right,” Zayn says, “I’m going to go pay for this and then we can go see if we can find Niall.”

“I saw him leaving just now,” Harry says. “Where was he going?”

“We dunno, that’s why we need to find him,” Louis says. “Keep up, Styles. And get off me, you’re not a dainty Year Nine anymore.”

“I was never a dainty anything,” Harry says, but she gets down when Louis lets go of her legs instead of attempting to cling on, flipping her hair out of her face. 

Louis squints at her. “Wasn’t your hair the other way?”

Harry gives him a look. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she says primly, and Louis is almost convinced he’s hallucinating how her hair is definitely falling the opposite way it had been earlier. But only almost. He’s at least a little immune to Harry’s charms. 

Zayn pays for the watch and they all wander out of the shop together, heading back toward where Harry parked the car. Louis spots Niall leaning against it and waves. 

“You’re sure you don’t know where he went?” Liam asks Louis.

Louis scoffs. “Yeah, why would I know?”

Liam shrugs. “You look sketchy about it.”

“I do not!” Louis protests. “Harry, do I look sketchy?”

“Most of the time, yeah,” Harry says, looking at something on her mobile.

Louis pouts. “That’s mean, Hazza.”

“Love you anyway,” Harry replies dryly. 

“Clearly not as much as whoever you’re texting that you won’t tell me about,” Louis says. 

Harry looks up and smiles cheekily. “Clearly not.”

Louis huffs a sigh. 

“Where’d you get off to?” Zayn is asking Niall when they reach the car, having been walking a bit ahead of them.

“Nowhere important,” Niall says. 

Zayn narrows her eyes. “Louis and Niall are keeping secrets,” she announces, turning to the rest of them.

Harry shrugs. “Lou can’t keep a secret to save his life,” she says. “I’ll have it out of him, don’t worry.”

“You will _not,_ ” Louis says indignantly, pouting. He quite likes having a secret with Niall--something special that’s just for them. It’s just the sort of vaguely romantic thing that’s right up Louis’ alley. 

Harry shares a look with Liam and Zayn before all the girls burst into laughter. Louis sighs and rolls his eyes at Niall, who grins at him, making his stomach flutter a bit. 

Louis wrenches his gaze from Niall and turns to look at the laughing girls with a huff. “Are you all quite finished?” he asks loudly before getting into the front seat of Harry’s car and slamming the door dramatically behind him. He can hear them laugh harder at that, but he doesn’t mind so much. They can laugh all they want--he’s still going to have this with Niall. 

And when Niall gets into the backseat, skimming his hand lightly over Louis’ shoulder before he sits down and winking when Louis looks back at him, well, that’s only confirmation that Louis has progressed leaps and bounds in his life goals in comparison to yesterday.

-

It only takes three days of Harry badgering him for Louis to finally give in and tell her the plan. (He’s proud of the three days, though--Harry can be a persistent little shit when she puts her mind into it. He’s pretty sure that he’d have literally gone insane if he’d held out any longer.)

“So... you rented bikes for them,” Harry says, and then giggles for a second before catching herself. “That’s where Niall went off to?”

“Yeah,” Louis says.

“What if they don’t know how to ride bikes?” Harry asks. “What if they just don’t like it? Also, on what planet is the bike rental shop ever going to only have two when it’s not even peak tourist season?”

Louis stares blankly across the table at her, opening and closing his mouth. “You’re horrible,” he says finally.

“Your _plan_ is horrible,” Harry corrects. “I’m pretty sure no one should ever let you and Niall team up again. Were you guys planning to walk to town?”

“Uh...” Louis honestly hadn’t thought about that. 

Harry giggles and rolls her eyes. “I’ll drive you, I’ve got something to do in town anyway.”

“Thanks,” Louis says, and then pouts. “You should tell me who you keep texting,” he says petulantly. “I deserve compensation for giving up my secret.”

Harry grins at him. “No,” she says. “I am a stronger soul than you, Tommo.”

“I hate you.”

“Love you, too, sweetums.”

-

Niall Horan 12:05 | _Showtime today buddy!!_

Louis Tomlinson 12:13 | _:) Harry’s going to drive us into town, says she’s got something to do anyway. Meet you in 10 - 15 ?_

Niall Horan 12:16 | _ya ,see u!_

Zayn Malik 12:32 | _liam says she’s ill so I’m going to stay with her you guys go ahead tho! :) x_

Liam Payne 12:33 | _sorrrrryyyyy i feel terribleeee :(_

Louis Tomlinson 12:35 | _It’s okay, feel better Li ! x_

-

“So,” Louis says, “this didn’t work out quite the way we were expecting.”

Niall shrugs. “They’re still spending the whole day snuggled up in bed together,” he points out. “And we get to go bike riding.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Louis says, smiling over at Niall. He’s definitely not complaining that he gets to go on what is intended to be a romantic bike ride with the guy he’s been crushing on since he’d first heard him laugh at a party after a pre-season match. Louis is fairly sure Niall’s laugh in liquid form could cure cancer. 

“Speaking of bikes,” Niall says, and Louis must have spent a fraction of a moment too long staring, because he’s already on his and pedalling away. “Race you to the end of the road!” he calls over his shoulder.

“Not fair!” Louis yells after him, scrambling to get on his bike. He catches up with Niall so quickly he’s inclined to be suspicious that Niall’s not trying very hard, but he pretends it’s a big deal anyway. “Eat dust, mothafuckah,” he says as he coasts past Niall, and he’s rewarded with Niall laughing, which is exactly what he was aiming for. 

Louis beats Niall to the end of the road, which he takes as an excuse to gloat at Niall, who seems to think everything Louis says is absolutely hilarious, even when Louis is fairly sure it would fit in with the top ten worst jokes he’s ever made. They decide to head down one of the local bike paths, and once Louis stops insulting Niall every time a new creative adjective pops into his head, they lapse into silence.

Left alone with only the sound of the wind rustling the leaves of the trees and his thoughts, Louis is suddenly struck with the memory that they’re only here because Niall wanted to try to get Liam and Zayn together. This isn’t, like the bright cartoon picture in Louis’ head says, actually a date, and there’s a very real possibility that Niall doesn’t even really like Louis--at least, doesn’t like him the way Louis wants him to.

Well, Louis thinks, he could have done without that reminder. Many kind regards to his brain for that one.

There’s a fork in the bike path coming up, Louis notes, and then realises he doesn’t know which way to go. “Um, hey, which way?” he asks, trying to turn so he can look back at Niall. 

“What?” Niall asks. “I can’t hear you.”

“Which way?” Louis repeats, louder this time, and completely forgets that he should really be watching where’s he’s going. 

Instead, he watches as Niall’s eyes widen almost comically. “Louis, watch out!” Niall shouts, and then Louis glances forward just in time to see that he’s headed straight for a tree and slam on his brakes, the tires of his bike skidding on the pavement and sending him off-kilter and trying to preempt falling over by jumping off his bike only to trip over his own feet, landing on his side in the grass at the side of the path.

“Abandon ship,” Louis says weakly, staring at the spinning tire of his toppled bike. 

“Holy shit, are you okay?” Niall asks, stopping his bike and getting off to lean worriedly over Louis. “Did you hit your head or anything?”

Louis grins up at Niall. “Nah, I’m fine.” 

Niall smiles tentatively back. “Are you sure?”

Louis nods and starts to get to his feet. Niall stops him with a hand on his shoulder. “No, stay there. I think I’ve had enough of bike riding.”

“Enough?” Louis asks, raising an eyebrow. 

“Yep,” Niall says, letting his own bike fall over instead of using the kickstand like he really should and sitting down next to Louis. “Let’s just... sit for a bit and talk.”

“Talk,” Louis repeats. It doesn’t sound like the worst idea in the world. He’s not got an aversion to learning more about what makes Niall the way he is--that is, such a constant stream of beaming happiness and adorable. “Okay. About what?”

Niall shrugs. “Tell me about yourself,” he prompts, nudging the toe of Louis’ Toms with his own Supra. 

“Uh, well, okay,” Louis says. “I’m not that interesting, though.”

“Sure you are,” Niall says, smiling at him again now, probably trying to be encouraging, and Louis feels woefully inadequate. 

“You go first,” he says, and Niall laughs.

“Mysterious,” he teases. 

“You know it,” Louis says, shooting Niall a wink. Niall giggles and starts to tell Louis about how he’d been really serious about music and worked hard to get a scholarship to Charterhouse, and Louis can feel himself falling further and further into his crush on him, because he’s _not_ just a happy, cute face, he’s _Niall,_ and, well. 

Fuck.

-

“Leeeee-yum!” Niall yells, slamming his way into her room and throwing himself onto the foot of her bed. “I had the greatest day.”

Liam looks up from her iPad. “Mine was okay,” she says, voice all scratchy and stuffed up. 

Niall winces. “Sorry you got sick,” he says. 

Liam waves a dismissive hand, setting the iPad away. “No, it was honestly okay. Tell me about your day. How’d it go with Louis?”

Niall grins. “We went for a bike ride like we’d planned and Louis nearly ran into a tree. It was hilarious--he’s fine!” he adds quickly at Liam’s shocked face. “So we ended up just sitting by the side of the road and talking. He’s so interesting, Liam, I had no idea.”

“Oh my God,” Liam says, amused. “So, not just a pretty face, then?”

“Hardly,” Niall says. He thinks he might be coming off a bit creepy and lovesick--he kind of feels like sighing wistfully and waxing poetic about how perfect Louis is, but he’s going to consciously refrain for the sake of everyone involved’s dignities. “He told me about how he aspires to become a drama teacher so he can help kids come out of their shells and have fun, and he thought it was really cool how dedicated I am to music. I kind of want to marry him.”

Liam snickers. “Moving pretty fast there.”

“He makes me want to do crazy things,” Niall says blithely, before eyeing Liam. “Anyway, you don’t sound as miserable as you could be with that bad a cold. Where’d Zayn go?” 

Liam breaks into a stupid smile. Niall widens his eyes and pounces on her, grabbing at her forearms. “What happened? Tell me right now.”

“We, um, might have admitted to mutual feelings?” Liam says, biting her lip as if she’s trying to hide a smile. “She said she thought I was straight, which, well, I guess I never gave her reason to think otherwise, so whatever. But, uh... then we kissed a bit, so I think she knows now.”

Niall might scream in Liam’s face a bit. It’s not his proudest moment. (Except how it is because his best friend just landed the girl of her dreams; _how cool is that._ ) “Seriously? Please tell me you’re not lying.”

“I’m not lying,” Liam says, grinning stupidly, and Niall pulls her into a hug.

“I’m so happy for you, Li.”

Liam hugs back and pats Niall on the back. “Thanks, Nialler. I know you’re always rooting for me.”

“So are you guys, like, dating now?”

Liam blushes, and smiles into Niall’s shoulder. “I don’t know, I guess? I’ll just let things happen, and we’ll see.”

“Of course,” Niall agrees, smacking a kiss to Liam’s neck before pulling back. “Now, what do you say to me going and grabbing us food and then settling in to watch yet another film?”

-

Niall holds the left side of his earphones out to Louis and pats the bed next to him. “Sit down, get comfortable.”

Louis fidgets for a second, hovering just by the door, then seems to come to a decision and strides over, sitting down and taking the earphone from Niall. “You wanted to show me some records?” he asks, as if he’s not sure what exactly the text Niall had sent him had actually said.

Niall nods. It’s part of his elaborate plan to woo Louis, which had started with tossing chips back at him, progressed to a strategic pink lolly, peaked at the realisation that Louis was someone Niall wanted to kiss for the rest of forever, and would hopefully end with surprise cuddles and making out while listening to songs that Niall had definitely not spent way too long carefully selecting last night between what he hopes came off as cautiously flirty texts to Louis.

If Niall had wanted Louis’ proper opinion on the songs, he would have made him wear good quality headphones to listen to them, but he’s more concerned with their effectiveness in getting Louis to cuddle with him, and the earphones make it so that Louis has to sit right close to Niall, so he’d say that they’re doing a good job.

“I like this one,” Louis says. Niall hums agreement, distracted by the way Louis’ fingers are tapping idly to the beat on his thigh. “What else have you got?”

“Oh, um,” Niall says, turning back to his laptop screen and hitting the next button, “there’s this one.”

Louis looks really thoughtful about it, nodding along seriously, and Niall finds it extremely endearing. He must really be interested in Niall if he wants to like the music Niall is showing him that much--or, at least, that’s what Niall’s telling himself. He cautiously pushes his bare toes up against Louis’ leg where he’s got them both stretched out in front of him and is gratified when Louis doesn’t move away. He’s probably imagining that Louis shifts a bit closer, but then--he can feel the warmth of his body a lot more now, and if he turns his head Louis is _right there._

“Liam would like this, I think,” Louis says, and Niall barely hears it, certainly doesn’t register it past a vague _why is he mentioning Liam_ before leaning closer to Louis, their sides pressed up against each other now, and when Louis turns to look at Niall, he’s so close that it’s pretty much by accident that their lips meet. 

Niall is so surprised by the contact that he freezes up, and when he feels Louis properly kissing him, he almost involuntarily tries to get even closer to him. His laptop slides off his lap when he moves, though, and he has to pull away quick to grab it before it falls, and somehow in that moment Louis jumps up so he’s standing and pushing a hand through his hair. 

“I--shit, Niall, sorry. I don’t know what that was, sorry.” He looks well distressed, practically wringing his hands together, his skin flushed red, and Niall wants to pull him back down and kiss the worried look off his face. He’s on his way to reaching for Louis to do so, too, when the words sink in and he pulls back again, the aborted movement barely noticeable. 

“Oh. Um. What?” Niall asks, confused. 

“That,” Louis says, flapping his hand toward Niall. “The whole--kissing thing. I just don’t--I mean, you--um.”

Niall blinks slowly. He’s not sure what exactly Louis is trying to get out through his incoherent ramblings, but he thinks it might be something along the lines of _I don’t want to kiss you, sorry,_ because this is his life and he can’t see any other reason for Louis to be over there rather than on the bed kissing Niall. “We’re just friends?” Niall supplies, hoping against hope for Louis to contradict him.

“Yes, God, yeah, I’m just--sorry. I’m going to go, I usually hang out with Harry on Thursdays, anyway. Um. Sorry. Yeah. Bye. Sorry.” Louis backs his way out of the room as he rambles, shutting the door behind him when he goes with a loud click.

Niall stares at the closed door, then looks at his laptop and feels an urge to just throw it at the wall. He doesn’t, though--just picks up his earphones and puts them on, turning his volume up and switching from his _for louis_ playlist to his _fuck this shit_ playlist before burrowing under his blankets and shoving his face into his pillow.

And if he sheds a few tears over Louis Tomlinson, well, he never said he was perfect.

-

Niall is moping into his music theory workbook in the back corner of the library just after noon the next day when Harry sits down next to him at his table and starts taking books out of her bag, arranging them in front of her.

“Um, hi?” Niall says. 

“Hello,” Harry says coolly. “I’m not sure if I should be angry with you or not, so why don’t you tell me what happened last night?”

Niall frowns. “Didn’t Louis tell you?”

“Of course, but I want to hear it from you,” Harry says, settling down with a pencil held idly in her fingers, shading in the margins of a blank sheet of notebook paper. 

“Right,” Niall says, swallowing the nervous lump in his throat. “Well, I guess, I kissed him and he freaked out and kept apologising and then ran away. That’s the short of it, anyway.”

“Ah,” Harry says, “I see.” 

Niall hesitates, then asks, “Are you angry with me, then?” He’s not sure why she would be, really, unless she really doesn’t like it when people besmirch Louis’ honour or something. Could kissing him even be classified as besmirching? Niall isn’t sure.

“No, I don’t suppose I am,” Harry says after a moment. 

“Is Louis angry with me?” Niall asks, the question slipping out of his mouth before he can even think to stop it.

Harry laughs at that for some unknown reason. “Hardly,” she says. “Listen, I don’t think you should give up on him. If you both avoid each other now, you’ll just regret it.”

Niall frowns. “Are you sure? He seemed... really upset. I thought I would just give him space.”

“I’m his best friend, of course I’m sure. Space is the last thing he needs right now,” Harry says, tossing her fringe out of her eyes. “Are you any good at economics?”

Niall blinks. “Uh, no, I study music.”

“Great, so if you could be quiet in the library while I do work...” Harry trails off, and then shoots a wink at Niall, surprising him.

“Yeah, okay,” he mumbles, and goes back to scratching answers in his book.

-

“Just text him,” Zayn says, not looking up from where she’s drawing on the inside of Liam’s forearm with a black permanent marker. “What do you have to lose?”

“Not much,” Liam answers for Niall. “Come on, just do it, Niall.”

“I don’t know what to say, though,” Niall says. He’s lying on Liam’s floor while the girls are sitting on Liam’s bed. He feels a bit bad for intruding on their time together so early in the honeymoon stage of their relationship, but not so much that he’s going to leave unless they explicitly tell him to. 

“It’s not that complex,” Zayn says. “Just ask what’s up. You don’t have to dive in headfirst and start talking about your feelings.”

“How do I word that?” Niall asks, picking his mobile up from where he’d left it on his chest and flicking to his messages.

Liam snorts and then sniffs loudly because she’s only just getting over her cold, and Zayn sighs. “A simple sup? would suffice, really. If you can’t bring yourself to do it, I will.”

Niall stares at the screen of his phone for a moment, then shakes his head and holds it out to Zayn. “Do it, please.”

“Fucking hell,” Zayn says, exasperated, but she finishes off the line she was working on and caps her pen before taking Niall’s phone from him. 

Niall Horan 17:22 | _Hi louis. :) what’s up?_

“There, sent,” Zayn says. “Shall I keep this so I can text him back for you, or will you be up to it?”

“You’d better keep it,” Niall says. “Fuck, what if he doesn’t text back?”

“He’ll text back,” Liam says reassuringly, poking Niall in the ribs with her foot. 

“How do you _know_?” Niall whines, and watches as Liam and Zayn roll their eyes at him almost in sync. His phone chimes from where Zayn had thrown it on the bed and Liam grins. 

“There you go, that was really quick!” she says.

“What if it just says to fuck off?” Niall panics.

“It doesn’t say fuck off,” Zayn interrupts. “It says, and I quote: ‘Hey, Niall. Nothing much, really. What about you?’ And then he’s finished it with a little kiss, so I think you’re just fine.”

“What do I say to that?” Niall asks.

Liam hooks her chin over Zayn’s shoulder to look at Niall’s phone. “I think you should ask if he wants to do something with you.”

Zayn nods. “Yeah, here, I’ll ask if he wants to go into town with you.”

“Wait, what?” Niall asks, making a grab for his phone. Zayn moves out of the way. “Don’t do that! Baby steps! The last time I saw him I kissed him and he _ran away._ We need to build up to this, don’t we?”

“This is why we’re in charge,” Zayn says, holding Niall’s phone out of his reach and typing away at it. 

“I _trusted_ you,” Niall protests.

“Trust us to know what we’re doing, then,” Liam says. 

“Here you go,” Zayn says, handing Niall back his phone. He looks down at the already sent message and groans.

Niall Horan 17:31 | _Same here haha. Fancy going into town for dinner with me? Got this cool place I could show you. :) x_

“I don’t sign my texts like that,” Niall says. “Also, how am I supposed to go into town when neither of us drive?”

Liam waves her own mobile at him. “Texted Harry. She says she’ll come get you if Louis says yes.”

Niall frowns. “Does that mean she’s already in town? What does she do there by herself all the time?”

“I don’t know, but she’s signed out so many times I think the teachers are starting to get suspicious,” Liam says. “I’d say they might start restricting her off campus hours, but she’s got them all wrapped around her pinky finger.”

“I’ve got twenty on that she’s fucking the lad who works at the bookshop,” Zayn says, picking her pen back up and grabbing for Liam’s arm. Liam lets her have it easily, frowning.

“She’s always texting someone, though,” Liam says, “and the one time I caught a glimpse I think it said Cazza, so.”

“Maybe that’s his name,” Zayn says wisely, colouring in a star on Liam’s arm. “I didn’t catch it that time, did you?”

“Seems an odd name for a lad, s’all,” Liam says. “Even as a nickname.”

Niall has only a moment to consider that before his phone chimes. “Oh God,” he mutters.

“Open the text,” Zayn orders.

Louis Tomlinson 17:40 | _Alright. :) Haz says she’s coming to get us? We need to get her a gift for being such a giver._

“He said yes,” Niall reports. Liam cheers. 

“Now go get ‘em, tiger,” Zayn says. “By which I mean leave so I can have alone time with my girlfriend, thanks much.” Zayn grins, clearly pleased to be able to finally say it, and nudges at Liam’s leg with her foot.

Niall mock salutes. “Yes, ma’am. Wish me luck.”

“Luck!” Liam says. Zayn salutes him back.

Niall Horan 17:42 | _ya we do haha. see u in a min, ill come by ur hall!_

-

“So, um,” Niall says, “nice restaurant, yeah?”

Louis takes a cursory look around the restaurant Niall’s brought him to and shrugs. It seems nice, really, all dim lighting and well dressed wait staff, and Louis figures it’s the perfect first actual date venue. Which is why it sucks that he’s sitting here with Niall casing out the joint for Liam and Zayn rather than actually on a date with him. 

Louis’ life kind of sucks. 

“Is it expensive?” Louis asks just to have something to say, flipping open the menu and pretending to look at it.

“Not really,” Niall replies. He smiles at Louis across the table, all tentative and barely showing off his teeth, and Louis feels an urge to text Harry and tell her he hates her for insisting he say yes to Niall’s invitation. He can’t take looking at Niall’s earnest face so soon after Louis had been so dumb as to kiss him and then _apologise and run away._

Not that he thinks he should have stayed or something. Niall had pretty much made his feelings on Louis kissing him clear by pulling away so quickly. It’s more that Louis wishes he hadn’t got caught up in the moment and kissed him at all. He’s been friends with Niall nearly a month now, but they’re just that-- _friends._ Friends who are mostly spending all their time together trying to get their other friends together, at that. Louis is fine with it, really. He doesn’t want to ruin what they’ve managed to build up. 

They sit in silence for awhile, and Louis actually reads the menu and picks out something to order when the waiter comes, and in the silence afterward Louis is about to say something about how Liam and Zayn would _have_ to realise they’re on a date if they got them to come here somehow when Niall interrupts his train of thought by asking, “Have you got the new FIFA yet?” 

Louis blinks. “Yeah, of course,” he says, and then Niall is asking him question after question about what he thinks of it and if they should play sometime, and Louis is laughing at an impersonation of a dumb thing one of Niall’s players had done once, and the conversation progresses easily from there, falling into the easy back and forth Louis recognises from their bike ride and their texts in the week after that, and Louis honestly forgets all about anything to do with Liam and Zayn. 

They’re standing outside the restaurant waiting for Harry to come and pick them up after, cheeks flushed pink in the spring evening chill, and they both turn to each other to say something at the same time.

“Sorry,” Louis says, tucking his hands into the pockets of his hoodie, “you first.”

“I just wanted to say that I had a really great time, s’all,” Niall says.

Louis can’t help smiling at that. “Oh,” he says. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Niall confirms, smiling back at him.

“Me too,” Louis says, and it’s possible that they’ve been just smiling at each other for a good few minutes when Harry finally pulls up.

-

It’s nearly three weeks after Liam and Zayn officially get together, two weeks to the day after Louis and Niall kissed, when Louis actually finds out about it. 

The five of them haven’t made a habit of sitting together for lunch or anything, they’ve still got their other friends after all, but on this particular Thursday they’re sitting at Louis and Harry’s usual table, Niall next to Harry across from the rest of them, and Louis is perfectly involved in eating his sandwich when he hears Zayn say, “Yeah, so for date night I’m thinking bowling? Do you like bowling?” and whips his head around just in time to see and hear Liam reply with “I don’t know, I’m probably terrible, but it could be fun.”

“Wait, date night?” Louis interrupts, his mouth half full. He swallows and adds, “With each other?”

“No,” Zayn says, and Louis feels a quick fleeting sense of relief before she adds, “with my other girlfriend, Lou, who do you think?”

“You, um. You’re dating?”

Liam nods. “For about three weeks now. Louis, are you all right?”

“You didn’t know?” Harry chimes in. “I thought you did. It’s like you and Niall and how everyone knows you’re sneaking off to snog in secret.”

“We’re-- _what_?” Louis squeaks.

“We’re not doing that,” Niall says quietly, and Harry turns to look at him incredulously. 

“You’re not? I thought you were keeping it a secret like the dumb planning thing was,” Harry says. Louis feels lightheaded and digs his fingers into the tabletop to keep from potentially floating away. 

“You’ve been spending a lot of time together, is all,” Liam adds. “You get Harry to take you guys into town every weekend, and Louis skipped footie practice last Tuesday to hang out with you.”

“Harry always _offers_ ,” Louis says faintly. “Sorry, I think I--I’m not hungry anymore, and I’ve got a quiz next class, so um. I’m going to go.” He stands up quickly, nearly knocking over his chair, and almost forgets his bag in his haste to get away somewhere where he can _breathe_ and most importantly not catch glimpses of Niall looking at him from across the table, because Louis is not sure what his expression was, exactly, but he knows it wasn’t anything he’s equipped to deal with.

“Louis, wait!” Harry calls after him. He ignores her and quickens his pace. 

-

“Thought I might find you here,” Zayn says, kicking the bottom of Louis’ foot before sitting down next to him under the tree where he’d first stumbled across her. “Harry’s been looking for you everywhere. I told her to lay off for a bit, so you’re welcome.”

“Oh,” Louis says, picking dead grass out of the ground. “Thanks, I think.”

“You’ve been doing a good job all afternoon, I’ll give you that, but you can’t avoid everyone forever,” Zayn says.

“Niall’s been avoiding me,” Louis says. “I thought I’d go by his room earlier, see if we couldn’t talk, but he didn’t come to the door even though I’m sure I heard him in there.”

Zayn sighs and pulls a packet of cigarettes out from where she’d been keeping them in her bra. “You’re both idiots,” she says, taking one out and lighting it. “You really do just need to talk to each other.”

“Yeah, well,” Louis says bitterly. “Thanks for telling me about you and Liam, by the way. Really appreciate it.”

“Sorry,” Zayn says, sounding like she genuinely means it. “I really did think you already knew. Harry tells you everything, yeah? I thought this was the same.”

Louis snorts. “She doesn’t tell me everything. She still won’t tell me who it is she’s seeing in town.”

“She won’t tell _anybody_ that, though,” Zayn points out. “Anyway, this is about you and Niall, and I am telling you, Louis, there is never any point in someone’s life where they should just give up on everything.”

Louis squints at her. She takes a drag off her cigarette and blows the smoke away from them, avoiding eye contact. “You think?” Louis asks after a long silence.

The corner of Zayn’s mouth twitches up in a mockery of a smile. “I know,” she says.

-

Niall jerks awake to banging on his room door and what is unmistakably Harry’s voice yelling his name. He drags himself out of bed and wrenches open the door. “What do you want?” he asks, blinking blearily at her.

“Dude, were you _sleeping_?” Harry asks, pushing past him into his room. “Don’t answer that, obviously yes. Listen, you really need to talk to Louis.”

Niall winces. “I kinda know,” he says. “But his face at lunch--we’ve been going on dates for however long and he didn’t even realise that’s what they were, did he? That’s what kills me.”

Harry sighs. “I didn’t really want to get into this with you, seeing as I’d much rather you two worked it out yourself, but seeing as you actually _haven’t_ when I thought you _had_ , I’m considering it my duty to step in. Louis would have liked those to be dates, I’m sure. He really likes you, Niall, and I know you like him, so you both need to stop being stupid and just snog now. Please.”

Niall bites his lip. “Is it really that easy? I mean--”

“Shouldn’t you talk and stuff?” Harry interrupts. “Yeah, you probably should, but I really think snogging first and saying something like ‘I’m really a bit in love with you’ would clear it up just as well.”

“But--”

“Are you coming to the match tonight? The answer is yes, by the way, even if Liam and I have to drag you. Maybe you can just run across the field and jump him, yeah?”

“Uh, no,” Niall says.

“You’re right, that plans needs work,” Harry agrees. “We’ve got a bit of time, though, don’t worry.”

-

Stan Lucas 17:28 | _Good luck with the match tonight, mate. And talk to Harry, would you? Or even better talk to Niall. x_

-

Louis scores the game winning goal. One moment he’s yelling for Ed to _pass the ball you wanker_ because he’s wide open and the net is wide open, and the next he’s got the ball right where he wants it and then everything goes dead silent as he kicks it and the moment it hits the back of the net everything erupts in sound, and it’s not a huge deal, really, this isn’t an important game in the scope of things, but it still feels fucking _great._

Louis is cheering, arms raised in victory, when someone barrels into him, wrapping their arms around his midsection and squeezing. Louis thinks it’s one of his teammates at first, but then he sees the blonde hair and the grey cardigan and-- “Niall? What are you doing?” he asks, even as he hugs him back. 

Niall pulls back from where he’d had his head tucked next to Louis’ and says, “I’m going to kiss you now,” and Louis barely has the time to nod before Niall’s lips are on his. It’s sloppy and excited and has no technique whatsoever, and Louis thinks it might be the greatest kiss he’s ever had in his life.

“I didn’t mean it!” he can hear Harry screeching from somewhere to his right. “I didn’t mean _do it!”_

“In case I wasn’t clear,” Niall says, breathless, after he’s pulled back a bit, “I fancy those stupid shorts right off you. Please tell me you feel the same, or I’ll die of embarrassment because I just snogged you in front of half the school.”

“I feel like we’re having a proper Cinderella Story moment,” Louis says, “only I don’t think they’re usually as sweaty and gross as I am right now in films,” and he kisses Niall again.

Harry breaks through the crowd of football players that’s formed at the side of the field a moment later and throws her arms around them both, breaking them apart. “That was so dumb, Niall, it was the greatest thing ever,” she says.

“You’re squeezing the life outta me,” Niall complains, but he’s grinning. 

“That was _beautiful,_ ” Liam says, her and Zayn having walked over at a slightly more normal pace compared to Harry’s full on sprint, and she hugs Niall from behind, wrapping one hand in Louis’ jersey to tug him closer.

“I like how we’ve ruined the moment,” Zayn says, but she joins in on the group hug, mirroring Harry from the other side. 

“Shut up, we’ve not ruined anything,” Harry says. “Right, lads?”

“Right,” Louis agrees, because he really doesn’t mind so much.

“We should go get ice cream,” Niall says.

-

Louis Tomlinson 19:11 | _Everything’s good now. :) Will call you later, going to get ice cream now !_

-

“Where did Harry go?” Liam asks, looking around the ice cream shop in confusion. 

“Slagging off with her boyfriend,” Zayn says wisely, sticking a spoonful of ice cream in her mouth.

“She said she’d be right back, so I don’t think that was her plan,” Louis says, trying to reach around where Niall is sitting on his lap to get at his ice cream. “There’s no room in this booth for you to be doing this, Niall.”

“Sure there is,” Niall says, handing Louis the ice cream. “Anything is possible if you just believe.” 

Louis snorts. 

“There’s Harry now,” Liam says. “She’s got... two people with her?”

“Oh my God,” Louis says, “we’re going to get to meet the person she’s been texting. This is officially the day that keeps on giving.”

“Hey, guys,” Harry says. “So, this is Nick,” she says, gesturing to a tall man with a quiff to rivals Zayn’s who looks like he _really_ doesn’t fancy being here right now. 

“Bookshop guy!” Zayn crows. “I’m expecting twenty pounds from _all of you._ ”

“And this is Caroline,” Harry continues, ignoring Zayn. She indicates the shorter woman with long ombre hair to her right. “They’re, um, who I’ve been texting and not telling you about. I thought it was time you met them, I guess. Cazza, Nick, this is Liam, Zayn, Niall, and Louis.” She points to each person in turn and then starts fidgeting with the hem of her jumper. Louis watches as Nick and Caroline both reach forward at almost the same time to each take one of Harry’s hands in theirs, both of them squeezing a bit before letting her go.

“It’s really nice to meet you all,” Caroline says. “Harry tells us stories all the time.”

“Terrible stories,” Nick adds. “I don’t fancy any of you as good people at all.”

Harry rolls her eyes. “Ignore him, please, he doesn’t mean half the shit that falls out of his mouth.”

Liam is the first to recover from the blank stare at the three of them that they’ve all fallen into. “It’s good to meet you, too! Harry has refused to tell us anything about either of you.”

“I’m not giving you twenty pounds, Zayn,” Niall says. “Not when you missed such a huge part of the equation.” He sticks a huge spoonful of ice cream in his mouth as if to punctuate the statement. 

Zayn sighs. “Fair enough.” She narrows her eyes at Caroline. “Could you go away so that I’m right?”

Nick laughs at that. “I think I like this one,” he says. 

“I’m trying to decide whether to be offended by that,” Caroline says mildly. 

“Of course not,” Harry says. “You’re not going anywhere.”

Caroline smiles at Harry, and Louis is pretty sure he’s going to need to give Harry a huge congrats later, because she’s somehow landed two extremely fit older people--which, he totally wasn't expecting that. He's not sure he understands the whole polyamory thing, but if anyone could make it work, he thinks it would be Harry. He’d probably actually be jealous if he didn’t have Niall. (He _has Niall,_ he thinks, and that still seems so weird, but he can’t help but grin.) 

“You should all sit down,” Louis says, gesturing to the empty seats. “We can trade embarrassing stories about our lovely Hazza.”

Nick positively lights up at that, immediately sliding into the booth next to Liam and Zayn, leaving the other side for Caroline and Harry to try to squeeze into without knocking Niall over onto them. “What’ve you got to share?” he asks.

“I knew this was a bad idea,” Harry groans.

“I beg to differ, love,” Louis says. “This is the best idea you’ve ever had, bar the one about Niall tackling me on the football field.”

“How did that go, by the way?” Caroline asks. “Harry’s been telling us about this, but sometimes I’m not sure when she’s being serious and when she’s making it up for dramatic effect.”

Louis grins and wraps his arms around Niall, hugging him closer. “Well, it all began under a tree...”

-

_fin._


End file.
